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Owning an investment propertycan be difficult for a number of reasons.

There's always the possibility that you'll have deadbeat tenants, need to make seemingly endless repairs and even lose your shirt if your property value takes a nosedive.

But often, the biggest headache comes before you or that first renter ever sets foot on the property — dealing with the mortgagelender.

While it's an essential part of the process of buying any home — whether it's an investment or your primary residence — recent government data suggests that landlords and homeowners alike have filed a tremendous number of complaints against mortgage lending banks for their business practices.

It's not just banks, though. Mortgage servicers — companies that don't lend money but instead manage the day-to-day loan payment collection and other tasks for the mortgage lenders — and other mortgage-related companies generated their share of complaints, too.

Based on 14 months of collected data obtained from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) through a Freedom of Information Act request, we found that consumers filed 36,403 complaints between July 21, 2011, and September 30, 2012, against mortgage lenders, servicers and other mortgage companies for mortgage loan-related issues. That's more than 2,600 complaints per month, or about 85 per day.

Of those mortgage-related complaints:

About 20,000 complaints were filed against lenders and servicers for issues relating to loan modifications, collections and foreclosures. When borrowers are unable to pay, the CFPB explains there is sometimes "consumer confusion around the process and requirements for obtaining loan modification and refinancing..." especially when borrowers are given unclear terms on reduced-payment trial periods, income-based repayment plans and ever-changing payment schedules. Consumers also complained that they were frustrated with some the institutions' unwillingness to renegotiate payment agreements or discuss foreclosure alternatives when it was difficult for them to repay.

Nearly 9,000 complaints were filed for issues relating to loan servicing, payments and escrow accounts. When it comes to making mortgage payments, the agency explains that some consumers "express confusion about whether making timely trial period payments will guarantee placement into a permanent [loan] modification." Others expressed concern that collectors didn't process their payments in a timely fashion, which led to unmerited late fees.

Slightly more than 7,000 complaints were filed for other mortgage-related issues including loan application processing, settlement signing processing and problems with underwriting and credit offers.

And with the large banks grabbing an increasingly larger share of the mortgage lending market, the complaints have become heavily concentrated as well. Out of more than 360 financial institutions on the CFPB's list, just five received nearly 22,000 complaints.

According to the CFPB, these five institutions received 60% of all mortgage-related complaints:

5. Ocwen

Mortgage Complaints Filed: 1,417 (4% of all complaints)Most Common Complaints:

Loan modifications, collections, foreclosures (739 complaints)

Loan servicing, payments, escrow accounts (493)

Qualified Written Requests (95)

4. Citibank

Mortgage Complaints Filed: 1,703 (5% of all complaints)Most Common Complaints:

Mortgage Complaints Filed: 9,930 (27% of all complaints)Most Common Complaints:

Loan modifications, collections, foreclosures (6,430 complaints)

Loan servicing, payments, escrow accounts (2,044)

Application, originator or mortgage broker issues (542)

In all, 27% of the CFPB's 36,400 mortgage-related complaints were directed at just one bank -- Bank of America. Bank of America received almost twice as many total complaints as Wells Fargo (the nation's largest mortgage lender), even as Bank of America originated just one-sixth the number of new mortgages that Wells Fargo did in the first two quarters of 2012.

Second-place Wells Fargo received more than 5,000 complaints. However, that's a proportionally small number of complaints whenconsidering Wells Fargo originated 908,962 mortgages in 2011 — more than the combined number of mortgages originated by next-largest mortgage lenders J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citi.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo did not reply to requests for comment on this report.

And while J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank and mortgage servicer Ocwen — which does not originate loans —each received well over 1,000 complaints, this wasn't out of line with the total number of mortgage loans they handled over the period. For example, Reuters reported that J.P. Morgan Chase originated 10.6% of all new mortgage loans in the second quarter of 2012 and acquired 10.2% of all mortgage-related complaints on the CFPB's bank list.

In response to these findings, J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus said: "Our customers are our top priority. When a customer raises an issue, we work to resolve it as quickly as possible. Over the last year, the number of complaints we received has decreased by roughly 40 percent. We continue to look for ways to improve the customer experience."

Citi spokesman Mark Rodgers, also responded: "We take borrower complaints seriously. We continue to work with the CFPB and our customers to resolve complaints expeditiously and in accordance with the law, and where applicable, within investor guidelines."

Ocwen did not respond to request for comment.

When it came to particular issues across allfinancial institutions, more than 50% of all complaints made against mortgage lenders and servicers were related to loan modification, collection and foreclosure issues, suggesting financial institutions have plenty of room to improve when it comes to working with struggling borrowers on repayment plans and discussing foreclosure alternatives.

Bank of America received more of these types of complaints than Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo put together.

Another 25% of all the complaints against financial institutions had to do with making loan payments (loan servicing, payments and escrow account issues), as many borrowers are confused with institutions' often unclear terms on payment date and amount details on their mortgage — especially after a loan modification.

The Investing Answer: Consumer watchdog CFPB's data isn't just a venting of frustration for nothing — many financial institutions take these complaints seriously. The CFPB plans to use these complaints to help lenders, mortgage brokers and settlement agents craft easier-to-understand mortgage applications and disclosures, which should help smooth future business relationships between consumers and banks.

But until that happens, here are some tips. Before you apply for a mortgage, know your lender's rules and terms and what to expect in interest and fees. If you have a mortgage and are confused about the terms of your agreement, write down questions and clarify your concerns — better to know your terms than guess and risk foreclosure after falling behind on payments.

Finally, if you have trouble making your payments, communicate with your lender. It's possible they can work out a payment plan with you so you can keep your home. But you won't get to negotiate if you don't let them know you've fallen on hard times. The CFPB offers more mortgage-help tips here.

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